Iowa Department of Transportation employees have started using MorphoTrust mobile driver license software as part of a new pilot.

MorphoTrust provides identity solutions to more than 80% of U.S. motor vehicle agencies, including Iowa, and has delivered a test version of the secure software to a group of Iowa DOT employees. This group will assess and validate the solution for use in situations where physical licenses are typically presented. Users download an app after receiving an email to enroll. After entering the email address and PIN the user takes a selfie, which is checked against the previously enrolled image and are then able to use the mobile driver license.

The pilot will also test record updates to the customer record system with the changes rendered on the phone in real-time. Information such as change of address, over/under 21-years-old status, organ donor status and change in driving status, endorsements, or restrictions, can be updated to the mobile driver license immediately.

The DOT if referring to this as “liveness.” Information can be updated at any point on the document, including when an individual turns 21 and the document switches from the vertical format to the horizontal.

“The key behind this concept is to move away from the drive license being a physical thing,” says Mark Lowe, director of Iowa DOT’s Motor Vehicle Division. The pilot aims to create two-way customer interaction to access services to receive service and send information to third parties.

The MorphoTrust mobile driver license software carries the same level of trust as the physical driver license/ID card. The mobile drive license software includes both visible and covert security features that are linked and layered in the digital image seen on screen. These features not only ensure a high level of security, they also enable the mobile drive license to be quickly and reliably authenticated when presented for identification purposes and protect against fraudulent reproduction.

In addition to PIN and fingerprint-based security features already built into phones used in the pilot, the mobile driver license app can be secured using MorphoTrust facial recognition unlock technologies which requires the user to take a selfie and use a custom PIN.

In the future other abilities can also be added including using wireless communication to share data, Lowe say. Using Bluetooth or NFC could be added in to share information with law enforcement or others.